James Thomas
Associate Professor of Sociology and Sociology Graduate Program Coordinator
Dr. James M. Thomas is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Mississippi. He is Co-Editor of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. He is also Co-Director of the National Science Foundation REU on the "Interdisciplinary Study on the Politics of Place."
Research Interests
JT is the author or co-author of five books, and over thirty peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and invited essays on the causes and consequences of race and racism both in America, and abroad. JT’s research has been funded by the American Sociological Association, the National Science Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation, and has been featured in popular media outlets like The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Pacific Standard. JT is deeply dedicated to public scholarship, regularly writing for mainstream outlets like The Mississippi Free Press, serving on the boards of non-profit organizations, and giving public lectures on race, racism, and inequality to academic and lay audiences alike.
Biography
James M. Thomas (JT) was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, about three blocks away from the historic ‘red-line’ of the central city, 63rd and Troost, which was used by real estate and government officials to demarcate white and nonwhite neighborhoods. His mother was a leader of a neighborhood coalition that stretched across this historic dividing line, and he was often struck by the contrast between the interracial social space of the neighborhood meeting, and the intra-racial makeup of the block where his home was situated. In addition, riding the Metro (the city bus system) everyday, he grew a strong appreciation for the diversity of urban life – economic, social, cultural, and political. His mother, a college librarian for thirty-seven years, helped cultivate his interests in reading, writing, and activism.
From Kansas City, he attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he graduated with his B.A. in both Psychology and Sociology in 2004. For the next year, he worked as a Youth Specialist with Missouri’s Division of Youth Services, counseling juvenile felony offenders in a minimum-security group home in Columbia Missouri. In 2005, he re-enrolled at the University of Missouri as a graduate student in the Sociology program. Falling in love with the process of critical inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge, he decided to continue my studies after obtaining his M.A. in Sociology in 2005, sticking around for his Ph.D. in Sociology, which he finished in 2011 along with a graduate minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. Dr. Thomas' dissertation research focused on the role of stand-up comedy venues in the production of contentious politics.
Courses Taught
- Soc 101 Intro to Sociology
- Soc 311 Social Problems
- Soc 316 Sociology of Sport
- Soc 365 Methods of Social Research
- Soc 403 Empire and Revolution
- Soc 410 The Color Line in the 21st Century
- Soc 413/AAS 413 Race and Ethnicity
- Soc 420 Studies in Housing Insecurity
- Soc 427 Social Stratification
- Soc 621 Professional Development I
Education
Ph.D. Sociology, University of Missouri-Columbia (2011)
Recognitions
- Visiting Scholar, Russell Sage Foundation , 2022-23
- Diversity Innovator Award, University of Mississippi, 2020
- Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Achievement , UM College of Liberal Arts, 2018
- Chairman’s Award, National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples, 2016